The Mastercard Foundation Scholarship at the University of Edinburgh is open for the 2027/28 academic year, and it comes with something the ASU version does not offer: you can win it and study from your own sitting room in Lagos, Nairobi or Accra, without ever relocating.
But before you read another line, understand this. For 2027/28 Edinburgh changed the whole process. You can no longer walk up to the application form. You must first attend a mandatory virtual information session, and those sessions are running between 15 and 24 September 2026.
As at the time of writing, every single session is fully booked. The University has said it is exploring adding another session and is asking people to check the page again on 15 September 2026.
So if this opportunity is for you, your task today is not writing essays. It is watching that page like a hawk.
Start With the Information Session, Not the Application
Here is the new process in plain terms. You check your eligibility, you look through the degree programmes, then you register for a virtual information session. When you register, you fill a short questionnaire, and your answers are reviewed to assess your preliminary eligibility.
Attending a session does not guarantee you an invitation. Only attendees who also meet the eligibility requirements will be invited to apply. On 13 October 2026, eligible attendees are notified whether they may proceed, and the invitation arrives through SurveyMonkey Apply.
Read that again, because people will miss it. No information session means no application form. No application form means no scholarship. It does not matter how brilliant your story is.
Registration and the session dates live here: Edinburgh Mastercard Foundation how to apply page
What the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship at the University of Edinburgh Covers
There are two routes, and they are funded differently.
The On-campus Route
You move to Scotland for a one year full time taught master’s degree. The scholarship provides full approved tuition, accommodation, travel, a living cost stipend and study materials. You also join the Climate Leadership Programme and the Climate Enterprise School, a week long training in sustainable entrepreneurship, plus transitions support and additional support for scholars with disabilities based on an assessment of needs.
The Online Route
You stay where you are, keep your job, and study part time. An online master’s runs up to three years, and an online postgraduate diploma runs up to two. The scholarship covers full approved tuition, so you pay nothing toward fees, and adds an academic stipend for a laptop and good internet, the chance to attend an in-person gathering, a dedicated Online Coordinator, and the same Climate Leadership Programme and Climate Enterprise School.
Edinburgh states plainly that its online qualifications are equivalent to the degrees taught on campus. Same university, same certificate, no relocation, no visa, no proof of funds. For a lot of my readers, that route is the real prize.
The Degree Programmes Available
The whole programme is built around climate, sustainability and global challenges, so the course list reflects that.
On campus you can apply for MSc Africa and International Development, Food Security, Sustainable Energy Systems, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Data, Inequality and Society, Operational Research, Environmental Sustainability, Climate Change Finance and Investment, Planetary Health, and Environment and Development.
If you want to study online, you have a plethora of options to choose from. You can apply for International Development, Global Food Security and Nutrition, Climate Change Management, One Health, Social Justice and Community Action, Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health, Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Data Driven Breeding and Genetics, Digital Education, and Data Science Technologies. Some are master’s only, some offer both master’s and diploma routes, so check each one.
Both lists are subject to change, so confirm on the official site before you build your heart around a course.
Who Can Apply for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program?
This is where Edinburgh differs sharply from the American programmes, and where many of you will suddenly qualify.
- You need the equivalent of a UK Second Class Upper honours degree or higher. In Nigerian terms that is a 2:1, not the near First Class standard some other scholarships demand.
- You must have graduated, and you must upload your degree certificate and official final transcript by 19 November 2026.
- You must be a resident and citizen of an African country, or hold refugee status in one.
- You must be 35 or under in the year the programme starts, which for 2027/28 means born on or after 1 January 1992. Anyone born in 1991 or earlier is not eligible.
- You must have faced significant barriers to education or in your early career, whether social, financial, personal, practical or health related.
- You must show a track record of leadership and service in your community.
- You must show experience, or at least ambition, in addressing the climate crisis.
- For the master’s routes, you should not already hold a postgraduate degree, and you should not be enrolled elsewhere while holding the scholarship.
- For the online postgraduate diploma, you may apply with either an undergraduate or a master’s degree from an African university.
Women, people from refugee and displaced backgrounds, and people with disabilities are particularly encouraged to apply.
The Timeline You Need on Your Wall
- 15 to 24 September 2026: mandatory virtual information sessions
- 13 October 2026: eligible attendees invited to apply
- 19 October 2026, 5pm UK time: Applicant Declaration Form closes, and it may close earlier once the limit is reached
- 19 November 2026, 5pm UK time: main scholarship application closes
- Early February 2027: admission decisions announced and on campus applicants invited to interview
- February to March 2027: interviews
- End of March 2027: interview outcomes announced
- September 2027: your programme begins
That October declaration form deserves respect. It can close early, so the day your invitation lands, fill it immediately. Do not sleep on it because the date says the 19th.
One more thing people get wrong. At this stage you apply for the scholarship only, not for the degree itself. If you win, you will be invited to apply to the University through normal admissions in 2027.
How to Make Your Application Actually Land
Selection rests on academic merit, your track record as a transformative leader, how well your application speaks to climate justice, your potential impact back home, and the barriers you have overcome.
So do not write a generic essay about loving education. Everybody loves education. Some even have better academic merit than you have done. Write about the specific thing you have done in your community and the specific climate or sustainability problem you intend to touch. Flooding in your state. Gas flaring. Failing crop yields on your family farm. Waste in your city. Make it concrete and make it yours.
And on barriers, be honest rather than dramatic. Financial hardship, health, caring responsibilities, a difficult school situation. This is one of the rare applications where your struggle is genuinely part of your qualification, so do not hide it.
While you wait for that information session page to update, do not sit idle. Use the months ahead to build an income skill you can earn from today, like the one in our guide on how to make money with no code automation.
Final Thoughts
The Mastercard Foundation Scholarship at the University of Edinburgh is one of the most generous and most reachable fully funded routes open to Africans right now. A 2:1 qualifies you. Being 35 qualifies you. Staying in your own country and keeping your job qualifies you, through the online route. Edinburgh has already supported over 200 scholars from 26 African countries, and Phase Two is funding 850 postgraduate scholarships between 2023 and 2030.
But none of that matters if you miss the door. Everything hangs on that mandatory information session, and every session is currently full. Open the official page on 15 September 2026, refresh it, and register the moment anything opens. If nothing does, email the team on mcfsp@ed.ac.uk and ask to be considered, then set yourself a reminder for the next cycle.
One word of protection, as always: never pay anybody to apply for this or any genuine scholarship. Edinburgh charges you nothing to apply, and anyone asking for money to “secure” your place is a scammer.
